1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to computer apparatus and, in a preferred embodiment thereof, more particularly relates to the configuration of housings for portable computers such as notebook computers.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years the notebook computer has made considerable gains in both popularity and technical sophistication. One factor contributing to the increasing popularity of the notebook computer is its ever decreasing size and weight, a factor arising from the ability to fabricate various components of the computer in smaller sizes while, in many cases, increasing the power and/or operating speed of such computers.
These ever-shrinking components in the modern notebook computer are typically carried in a protective outer housing structure that comprises a rectangular base or CPU housing in which the primary computer components, such as the processor, memory and drives, are carried, and a lid or display housing which is pivotally connected to the base housing for movement relative thereto between open and closed positions and carries a display screen on its front or inner side.
The portable computer housing structure, in its closed orientation, has three dimensions which can potentially be reduced to reduce its overall size in conjunction with the size reduction of its internal components--the housing structure's horizontal length and width, and its vertical depth or thickness. Due to practical minimum size limitations for the keyboard and display screen portions of modern notebook computers, the horizontal lengths and widths of their overall housing structures have proven difficult to shorten. This leaves the depth of the housing structure as a potential dimension which can be reduced to reduce the overall housing volume as new techniques for reducing the sizes of its internal components are developed. Flowing from housing depth design are two problems to which the present invention is addressed.
One problem that arises from reducing the thickness of the display housing portion of a notebook computer is that it can become increasingly difficult for a user to grasp its front edge to pivot it upwardly from its closed position to its use orientation in which the lid-mounted display screen faces the user.
Another problem relating to the design goal of reducing the overall housing structure vertical thickness is that while the individual electronic components required in a notebook computer are becoming smaller, notebook computer users are becoming increasingly sophisticated and, in many instances, are demanding that the notebook computer more closely resemble a desktop computer with respect to its power and speed, its display screen image sharpness, its multimedia capabilities, and the total number of computing and other tasks that it can perform.
This growing user preference for increased power, speed and computing capabilities in the notebook computer can easily offset the housing structure size reduction capabilities afforded by smaller electronic components and circuitry and actually require that the overall housing structure vertical thickness be at least somewhat increased. Yet at the same time, users and potential purchasers of notebook computers tend to associate a well designed unit by the thinness of its housing. Accordingly, a purchaser may potentially prefer one notebook computer which appears to have a thinner housing over another notebook computer which has superior performance but an apparently thicker housing.